Stay with Me
by SweetTemptation926
Summary: Set after the finale. Caroline leaves town in the midst of high emotions. She's mourning not only the death of Tyler, but the man who sired him, Klaus. On her trip she meets a few people that help show her the truth behind her feelings. Even in death the man haunted her thoughts. But after all, how could a woman really forget a man who offered her the world?
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: So I know my last one-shot didn't go exactly as I wanted it to. I'm hoping this one is better. Everything I write seems mediocre compared to all the wonderful writers this fandom has! I've missed writing. It's summertime again which means I will have much more time to write and I'll need it to get me through the ridiculousness of that finale. I've kind of jumped ship. Don't get me wrong, I still like Forwood because I ship Caroline with everyone and everything, but Klaroline is just… it's just something else entirely. They've captured my soul. My apologies to my Forwood readers! Anyway. I'm a little rusty! Enjoy!**

"_What happened?" Elijah said as he tried to make sense of Stefan's words to Jeremy._

_Caroline had heard them too. She heard the thickness in his voice. It was like he was a parent trying to assure a child that nothing bad would happen. "It's going to be fine." He said. "Klaus was lying." He said. "We're all going to be okay." But they weren't. He knew it and she knew what he meant when he had said those words. She just didn't want to believe them._

_She knew this day would come though. She begged for the same reassurance that he had just given Jeremy but she knew he couldn't lie to her. He had always treated her like she was a big girl ever since she told him she could handle herself. And she can. So she called out his name and prepared for the worst. "Stefan?"_

A week had passed. "I'm fine." She said repeatedly to her friends who called almost every 3 minutes. At 4 o'clock she stopped answering after the 13th call. At 5 o'clock she set her phone to vibrate after the 21st call. And eventually at 6 o'clock she had turned her phone off after the incessant vibrating of the 40th call and gently tucked it under her pillow.

It annoyed her to no end. Although she had to admit that she did the same thing after the accident on Wickery Bridge, and after the spell that was too much to handle for Shelia, and after Jenna became a playing piece in the sacrifice.

"He's gone." She whispered softly as she tucked herself in bed. She clutched the bracelet that he gave her on her birthday. She fiddled with the initials on the bracelet as the tears started to well up in her eyes.

She goes back to a time when things were easier. When she was dealing with her jerk of a father and Tyler was there for her. They had come to terms with his werewolf side, and they had accepted their feelings for one another. She goes back to this time. Before he had been turned into another mindless hybrid by Klaus.

_Klaus._

She shouldn't have been thinking about him as much as she was. She knew it was wrong. Regardless though, she just couldn't stop.

She stopped fiddling with the bracelet when she saw it. Still sitting on her nightstand, a little wrinkled due to her crumbling it up over and over again. She could never push herself to really get rid of it. "Thank you for your honesty." It read. The gifts. The romantic drawings, and the expensive jewelry was all she had left of him. He was only a memory now. She had gotten rid of him just like she wanted. _This was what you wanted._ She had to keep reminding herself this but the little voice in the back of her mind kept saying otherwise. _Not this._ It said. _Not this way._

She rolled her eyes and turned away from the drawing. Even in death he haunted her thoughts. But how could a woman really forget a man who offered her the world?

She hadn't moved in a week. She usually doesn't let herself sulk for this long. Her thoughts are normally full of optimism. "In spite of everything, we persevere!" She had once said triumphantly. She doesn't know how Elena does it. How Elena can get up after she's lost so many people. She doesn't know how Elena is so fine with her new fate. That brave and optimistic quality in her friend is something she admires greatly. Something she wants to achieve herself.

So she decides to try.

She wears the bracelet and gets up, grabbing her packed bag that is waiting for her by her bedroom door.

_I'll be fine. I love you, Mom. ~Caroline. _She dots her I's with hearts and folds it. It's a quick note but she knows that it says all she needs it to say.

She looks in the mirror one last time before she heads to the front door, running her fingers through her curls and then she turns her feet. Her hand rested on the cool doorknob and she closed her eyes. She turns the handle and keeps it open slightly ajar. She can't leave. She wants to so badly but she knows that she can't. Not without-

She sighs, annoyed and stomps back into her room like a child who has just been told that there aren't any cookies left. She stops at her nightstand and glares down at that wretched drawing. Despite her angry stance, her fingers pick up the drawing gracefully and she folds it neatly into a small square and stuffs it into her purse.

And that's when she leaves. She doesn't say goodbye to anyone. Not to Stefan, not to Matt, not to Bonnie, and not to Elena. And God she can't even bear to face Mrs. Lockwood anytime soon. She turns on her car and sets off to a new destination. One that will hopefully heal her.

She doesn't make it far though. She's only two states away in Maryland. A man hits on her in a bar in a small town called Hagerstown. She hates it here because it reminds her of Mystic Falls. The man throws a few pathetic lines at her and she still shows no interest. He grabs her ass as she gets up to leave and in an instant his head is pinned down on the counter. He struggles to get up. The fear and confusion of her strength is immediately placed in his eyes. She thinks of how Klaus would probably never allow this. He would have killed the man right then and there. But she's not Klaus. And she doesn't want to anything to do with him. So she slowly pours his drink all over his head. Compels him to forget her and she leaves this pitiful town.

It's 10 o'clock at night and she's waiting for a flight to New York. When she makes it there she wanders the city all day. Shopping and buying everything she pleases. She likes it here. She was supposed to run away with Tyler. She wasn't supposed to spend this time alone. She hopes that the next time she comes here, she'll be happy.

The next day she goes to The Museum of Modern Art. She spends the whole day there. She finds herself a bench and sits staring at her favorite piece in this entire place. It's a Monet. It's long and simple but she likes the simplicity.

"Caroline?" A voice she's grown very familiar with calls and she freezes. _This isn't happening._ The last thing she wants is to see anything or anyone that reminds her of him. The person sits down next to her and stares straight ahead.

After moments of silence Caroline finally decides to speak up. "They finally chased you out of town?" It's not mean. The way she asks is curious and her voice carries a little bit of pity. Caroline turns to look at Rebekah who keeps her eyes on the painting.

"Yes." She whispers. "Like Nik, I hoped the bloody town would soon become my home again." She turns to look at Caroline and watches how the mention of his name makes her cringe. "We were there first you know. Your friends, while I admire their bond, they can be very unforgiving."

Caroline nods. This is probably the most civil they'd ever been with each other. She relaxes and speaks. "So what brought you here?" She asks with a sigh.

"I always hated this city in the 20's. Nik always loved it though and I came to give it another chance." She smiles sadly at the ground. "My brother," Rebekah starts and Caroline looks away. "You know he was very fond of you. Sometimes I thought he was-" Caroline stands up abruptly causing Rebekah to stop midsentence.

"Stop." She whispers. "The last person I want to be thinking about is Klaus." She turns and starts walking off until Rebekah's words stop her.

"If that's true then why did you come to a museum of art?" Rebekah said accusingly, a little louder than necessary. "You know it was his passion." Caroline hears her heels click behind her as they make her way towards her.

She looks back at the painting and back to the ground. "He would have liked that." She says pointing back at the blue Monet.

Rebekah smiles and says softly. "Well it seems you do know a bit about him." They begin walking slowly next to each other, glancing silently at each painting they walk by. "Who would have thought the two of us would be looking at contemporary art in New York together?" Rebekah says after what seems like hours of silence.

Caroline laughs softly. "Never in a million years."

"He enjoyed his modern art. The abstract scenery and the portraits were the ones that always caught his eye though." She eyes Caroline carefully waiting for her to rush off.

She doesn't run though. She stays. She joins in on the conversation and although you can tell she feels a little guilty about talking about someone she should have hated, she doesn't run.

An hour has passed and it becomes too much for either of them to handle. They are still unsure of each other and it's still a little uncomfortable even though they now have a certain mutual respect for each other. At the front doors of the museum Rebekah grabs her arm before she walks away.

"Wait." She says calmly. She reaches into her purse and grabs a small stack of crumbled up pieces of paper that have been folded together. Caroline eyes her carefully and begins to pull away but Rebekahs grip tightens to the point where her arm starts to bruise. She knows what they are. She knows they were important to him and she knows that she wants them. But she also knows that she shouldn't want them. "I think Niklaus would want you to have these."

Rebekah pulls Caroline's hand and forcefully opens her palm placing the folded papers there. She's reluctant at first but after a few moments of hesitation she closes her palm and throws them in her purse. She doesn't want to look at them. Not yet at least. Not in front of Rebekah. She's not sure how she'll react and she doesn't want anyone to see.

She unconsciously smiles and Rebekah smiles in return. "I'll see you around?" Caroline asks.

"Perhaps." Rebekah replies simply. She starts to turn but pauses. "Your friends miss you, you know that right?" And without another word she's gone in a flash.

She looks at the spot that was just vacated and stares ahead at the large silver building. _She's right._ The voice tells her. She rolls her eyes and groans hating the condescending tone of her conscience. A cab pulls up in front of her and she hops in and goes straight back to her hotel. Her usual routine had been sightseeing then shopping but the shopping would have to wait just this once.

Creaking floors. That's all she notices as she's pacing in her hotel room. She already knows her next destination and it's not in her plan. She tears up and tosses her ticket to Paris and mentally prepares herself for her next destination.

Home.

**A/n: So I know this is really short. I had originally planned to make this a one shot and a lot longer but I wanted to see what you guys thought of it first. It will probably only be a two part fic. I don't know. What do you think? I kind of like how this one turned out so far. It's a lot better than my last one-shot. (Maybe because I actually have a plan for this one.) But towards the end I got a little sloppy. I was in such a good writing mood when I wrote the first half but some unexpected circumstances pulled me away from my laptop. But yeah tell me what you guys think! Click the little blue box below and Review! 3 **

**Follow me on tumblr! Sweettemptation92 :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: Part 2 of Stay with Me :) My title is atrocious. -_- I'm so sorry for taking so long to post the next part. I was on vacation the last couple weeks and had a little writer's block when I got back. Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed and the good feedback! I'm glad you liked the first part. **

**Happy Reading!**

Airplanes scare her. Taking off into the wide open sky where there are so many unknown possibilities gives her a kind of fear that she can't deny. Landing also scares her. It feels as if you're hurdling an abyss of nothingness until you hit the rough ground. The sudden unexpected turbulence annoys her. It seems as if every time she's just about to fall asleep the turbulence starts right back up again.

She's fed up. She hasn't slept in over a day. Not since her encounter with Rebekah and not since she decided to go back home.

A man named Richard sits next to her on the plane. He's in his late 20's and wearing blue polo. She pretends not to notice his staring. In the second hour of the flight he asks for her name and she doesn't respond. He asks to buy her a drink and she ignores him then to. He reaches his hand out to get her attention and she grabs his wrist. She turns to look at him and compels him to find another seat.

The old Caroline would have enjoyed an attractive man vying for her attention. But she wasn't that person anymore. She closes her eyes and tries to sleep until the turbulence returns. She sighs and looks outside the window. She shuts her eyes and shuts out the brightness.

When she opens her eyes again the folded papers that Rebekah gave her outside of the museum are in her hands. She didn't know how it happened. She must have done is subconsciously. She closes her eyes again wishing for them to disappear just as easily as they appeared and when they don't she exhales a breath she didn't know she was holding and stares at folded papers. When she opens them a lump forms in her throat. The drawings of her were expected. What she didn't expect was for them to be so beautiful. She didn't expect for them to surprise her. She flips through the pages as the lump in her throat gets bigger and bigger. She can't breathe anymore. She's not supposed to feel this way. There's this feeling in the pit of her stomach that just makes her feel alive. She hasn't felt this way since she was human. Her stomach does flips and then her heart aches. She hates feeling this way. She hated having to constantly remind herself of the person he is. Of the person he was. _He's a sociopath._

"What's a sociopath?" A soft little voice stole her away from her thoughts.

"What?" Caroline asked. She turned her head and looked down. There was a brunette little girl sitting down next to her. She must have been 9 or 10. She had big curious blue eyes. It felt like looking in a mirror when Caroline saw the little girl's eyes.

"Sociopath?" She had a large questioning tone and she spoke with a lisp. It was actually quite cute.

"I hadn't realized I said that out loud." Caroline smiled sweetly and looked around. "Where are your parents?"

"My mom's in the bathroom." She pointed to the bathrooms just a couple feet away. "I saw your pretty pictures and wanted to see more." She said this with a large smile. Her two front teeth were missing and Caroline giggled quietly.

Caroline waved the drawings around and turned them over. "These are nothing." She felt a soft pang in her chest when she said that. _Liar._ She mentally told the voice in her head to shut up.

"Nothing?!" The girl shrieked. She grabbed the drawings from Caroline's lap and looked at them in awe. "These are beautiful! You look so pretty in each one!"

Caroline giggled and pet the girls hair. "Thanks sweetie. But really they are nothing special."

The girl started to flip the drawings. She flipped too quickly for Caroline to see though. Some of them she hadn't seen yet and the glimpses of each still surprised her.

"The man who drew you this must be a prince." She looked up at Caroline with her toothless smile. "Only a prince could do this. Are you a princess?"

She couldn't help but find this girl adorable. No matter how much she was tugging at her heart strings she still laughed. "No, but I wanted to be one."

"Then this man must love you a lot. Only love can draw this." She smiled down at the drawings. Caroline looked away from the girl's smiling face and mentally scoffed. _Or obsession._ She thought. Obsession could often be confused with love.

"If I tell you it was a prince will you give them back?" Caroline asked.

The girl nodded but kept flipping through the stack. She watched her go through them quickly as her smile grew with each page. Her eyes flashed to one page that caused the girl to stop. "What's this?" she asked. Caroline saw the words that filled up the paper and froze. Her heart stopped beating and she couldn't move. Every organ in her body was frozen. She felt utterly paralyzed. Physically and mentally.

"Katie, what are you doing?" An woman who looked like the older version of the little girl was standing behind her.

"Mommy! Here! Look at these pictures. A prince drew them for her!" The girl flipped to the next page with a drawing on it which caused Caroline to break out of her trance.

"Wow those are pretty." Katie's mom smiled admiringly and looked back at Caroline. "I'm sorry about my daughter. She's just so talkative. She'll bother anyone and anything."

"Oh it's fine she wasn't bothering me." Caroline spoke softly. Her back was up straight and her whole body was tense.

Katie's mom grabbed the drawings and gave them back to Caroline and she took them with a weak grip. "You're sweet." The mom laughed. She grabbed Katie's small hand. "I'm sorry again. Those really are beautiful drawings." They took off leaving Caroline alone with the newfound mess in her hands.

A letter.

Her name was written clearly in neat print at the top of the page.

He had written her a letter. _The bastard._ She thought. She couldn't help but think that his ghost was haunting her, simply laughing at her reactions to everything that's been happening. She imagined he would say "I knew your affections for me would grow eventually."

Her grip on the letter is so tight that she might bore a hole into the paper. It's crumbled up from her hold. She feels as if she's holding on for dear life. The words on the paper don't register even though she's staring down at them so intently. She doesn't know if she wants to read it. For a brief moment she considers burning it on the plane right there and then. Then she considers flushing it down the toilet. But she pushes both thoughts out of her head quickly.

She throws her face in her hands and hears the jingling of Tyler's charm bracelet. "You're horrible, Caroline." She whispers to herself. She wonders if Tyler's ghost is haunting her. If he's watching the daily motions of her new life, if he's watching her mourn over not only him, but also the man who's responsible for his death. She wonders if he's grown to hate her for it. A single tear trickles down her cheek. She loves Tyler she does. But in the time that he was gone- no matter how much she hated to admit it -a connection between her and Klaus grew and she couldn't deny it. She may not have acted on it or even acted like she knew about it but she was aware of it. It was better for everyone if she ignored it.

_It won't mean anything._ She tells herself. _Just read it and be done._ It takes almost an hour but in the end she convinces herself to read the letter. She flips over the paper and stares down at the elegant ink. She takes one last deep breath and before she can change her mind, she begins to read.

_Caroline,_

_If there's one thing I'm going to regret leaving behind in Mystic Falls, it's you. I presume I've made it pretty apparent that I believe you deserve to see the world. You won't admit it but I know it's one of your deepest ambitions. You want to live. You want to see the beauty that the world has to offer. It's very clear in your eyes, love. The desire to take off and never come back. The need to explore. You want adventure. But don't stress, sweetheart. I'm sure you'll come find me when you are able to realize this in a few years. You should know by now that waiting around for people has never been my favorite activity but when it comes to something important to me, I can be a very patient man. And that is what you are to me Caroline. Important. Centuries have passed by and I haven't found a single woman who's been important to me. You're the first since my human life. I've told you before; you're strong, beautiful, and full of light but that is not the only reason I admire you. Not many people have the courage to speak to me the way that you do. In fact, most people had the right mind to be too fearful to ever be honest with me. But you are not afraid. I appreciate your honesty. We're not that different, you and I. If you could forget my actions for just a moment, look past everything you despise about me for one minute, you would come to realize our similarities. That night I dared you to get to know me, you would have learned this. Had you accepted my offer you would have eventually learned everything about me if I allowed you to. You would learn that this letter is something I've longed to write for centuries. I went through a strange phase during my early years. For reasons, still unknown to me, I was desperate to experience emotion. My human memories were slowly escaping me as the years went by and I desired to experience love even if it was merely through vicarious circumstances. Which is why I would harbor love letters that I had collected from my victims. Ultimately, it wasn't enough. Living vicariously through them began to dishearten me. I wanted more. I longed to receive a letter of my own and I longed for a woman to come along and inspire me to write one of my own. Needless to say, it never happened. Not until you. You should know that this won't be the first of my letters to you. You must understand that I am persistent man and I won't give up on you. You may not see me for years but you won't forget me. I don't expect anything in return. Just that you'll read them, with an open mind and an open heart. I look forward to seeing you again in the future. Stay safe. Goodbye, Caroline._

_Fondly,_

_Klaus_

When she finishes she notices that the plane has landed, and nearly every passenger has vacated the plane. She chuckles bitterly and silently thanks him for getting her past her least favorite part of a plane ride. She was lost in his letter. She's lost the will to breathe. All she wants right now is to forget. She wants to forget every word she just read. She feels dumb for convincing herself to read it. _You should have known better_. She thinks. She wants nothing but to drown herself with alcohol. She shuts her eyes tightly forcing the words of the letters out of her thoughts and stuffs the papers in her purse and exits the airport.

The first liquor store she comes across out of the airport, she buys three bottles of Bacardi vodka. She finishes the first bottle in less than 5 minutes as she begins walking. The taste burns her throat but she doesn't care. She's barely buzzed. One of the things about becoming a vampire was that it became that much harder to become drunk. She throws the bottle in a nearby trash can and continues walking to her next destination. She's not going back home as she had planned. The letter changes that. There's no time for her happy arrival back home with her mother. She's angry. She drinks because she's tired. She drinks to forget. She's kept everything inside for so long and she's tired of it. She wants nothing but to divulge her thoughts to someone, anyone. Rebekah had said that her friends had missed her. What she failed to admit was that she too had missed her friends. By the time she finishes the second bottle she looks up from the ground and takes a deep breath and stares at the large brown house in front of her.

She's standing in front of the Salvatore boarding house.

**A/n: So I know I said this was going to be a 2 part fic but I decided to make it three parts. I feel like I stopped it in a good place and I still want to keep you guessing a little more. :)**

**Fanfiction has made it that much easier to review so be sure to type your reactions in the box below and submit! Constructive criticism is appreciated. :)**

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	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: Part 3 of Stay with Me. Sorry I took so long with this one. I was having a lot of trouble getting back into the writing mood halfway through. And I wasn't really happy with how things were turning out. Re-wrote some part a few times. Happy Reading!**

The Salvatore Boarding house was large but it never ceased to be beautiful. Caroline remembered that when she was younger, she was always afraid of the house but she was also always envious of its size and beauty. She never knew the secrets that the house held though. She sometimes wished that she never learned them.

It would be easier if she could go back to her old life. She sometimes wanted to give up her strength, her abilities, her friends, to go back to being shallow, girly, little Caroline who was so oblivious to the world around her. What they say is true. Ignorance is bliss.

In a perfect world, she would be human. Her friends would be alive and human. She never would have had to meet Klaus. And she never would have developed these evolving feelings for him that only confused her to no end. She scoffed, thinking of the irony of it all. It was funny how her feelings for him only grew now that he was dead.

There's a crash of glass as she releases the empty vodka bottle from her hands and it hits the ground. She feels an emotional release as she drops it. As if the shattered pieces of glass are her feelings of hurt, anger, grief, resentment, and guilt all being destroyed into a million little pieces. She closes her eyes and breathes a sigh of relief. But it's quickly replaced with anger and guilt again when she hears Elena, Bonnie, Stefan, and Damon arguing about Elena's new vampirism.

She silently listens in on them, holding back the tears. Guilt. That is what she feels the most. Guilt for leaving Elena in her time of need, for abandoning her. For her developing feelings for Klaus, the man who ruined her friends life, the man who ruined Tyler's life. She feels like she has betrayed Tyler by merely thinking about Klaus.

_You ruin everything, Klaus._ She thinks to herself. She hears his accusing voice inside her head. _You couldn't deny it for long, Sweetheart. _She rolls her eyes and swallows her guilt as it's quickly replaced by anger.

Caroline opens her last bottle of Vodka and takes a long swig. A part of her feels as if she doesn't deserve to be angry, but she is anyhow. _Inhale._ As if she needs it, she breathes deeply and marches right up to the front door of the boarding house.

It's a quite knock at first but after a few moments when she is still ignored she begins banging and ringing the doorbell continuously. She hears their arguing stop for a moment and then it starts right back up again. "Seriously." She whispers, evidently annoyed. The soft footsteps make their way to the door. Waiting for them to reach the door feels like an eternity so she decides to cut the polite act and bursts right in.

She stumbles as she walks in and runs right into the hard chest of Stefan. One arm holds her elbows to steady her and the other reaches around her to shut the door.

"Caroline?" He asks confused. She swears she can hear a bit of relief in his voice. That there's a hint of happiness in his voice but that could also be her imagining things. "Where have you-" He stops short when she shoves him backwards.

"No." She hiccups and takes another swig of vodka and shuts her eyes as it burns her throat. "I'm so tired of everybody worried about Elena." She paces back and forth the floor. "Haven't you heard? She's fine. She's always fine. Being a vampire may not be her first choice but she knows it's no one's fault. She doesn't blame you Stefan. So you and Damon can stop being such d-bags to each other!" He squints his eyes at her and his eyes follow the trail down her arm to the bottle in her hands. Stefan reaches for it but she quickly jerks her hand away.

"Caroline, you're drunk." He says calmly.

She ignores him and continues anyway. "She'll get through it, Stefan. Me however, that's another story." She finishes the bottle and slams it on the closest table. She walks to Damon's liquor supply and grabs one of the bottles and starts drinking. "Do you know that I've been traveling the world trying so hard to forget?" She continues pacing around the living room. She's completely aware that the arguing below has stopped and is aware that the probability of them listening in to the conversation is very high. "I've been pushing back every single thought I've had. But I can't anymore. Is it so bad that I'm sad that he's gone?"

"Tyler-" Stefan starts but Caroline continues talking anyway and that's when Stefan knows it's not worth getting his say in. He realizes that she's been struggling with these thoughts alone and he can't blame her for wanting to let it out verbally, not just mentally.

"I've spent the last two weeks feeling guilty, feeling like everything was my fault, feeling like a horrible friend for abandoning all of you, but _excuse me_ for wanting to deal with my own problems for once instead of having everything revolve around Elena and your _ridiculous _love triangle. But I'm done feeling guilty."

"Is she in my liquor supply?" She hears Damon ask and she shoots him a look that makes him shut up and leans against the doorway.

"Do you know what I found today?" She pauses and rolls her eyes. "A letter." She whispers bitterly. "I found a freaking letter! He left me a letter Stefan. A long, heartfelt, _stupid_ letter and I feel like-" She paused and closed her eyes tightly as she covered her eyes with her hands. "I _feel _tired." She knows that it's time for her to leave now. Before she says too much, too soon she turns on her heels towards the door. When she turns around she sees a flash of Elena hiding behind Bonnie and Damon in the hallway. Caroline mouths and apology to Elena and sees her face soften.

She slams the door on her way out and the last thing she hears is Elena's soft voice. "She wasn't talking about Tyler was she?"

There was a pause in the room. It was so silent that it was almost deafening and then there was a loud sigh. "No." She heard Stefan say. "She wasn't."

She walks the rest of the way home. What exactly was she trying to accomplish there? She doesn't know. But what she does know is that the load of bricks that used to sit on her shoulders, are now gone. She didn't know how much she had been keeping to herself.

She walks past the Mystic Grill on her way home and stares at the bench across the grill. She gasps and holds her breath. Images of the last time she was there flash right before her. One of her mom's co-workers notices her staring and asks if she's okay. Caroline responds sweetly and assures him that she's fine. When he leaves she hesitantly walks to the bench and sits.

She reaches in her purse and grabs the first drawing he ever drew for her. She remembers telling him, _"You and your expensive jewelry and your romantic drawings can leave me alone." _She's glad he didn't listen.

They called her with a plan to distract Klaus that night. That's how it started. She was only there to distract him. But the moment he challenged her to get to know him, she not only had a duty to her friends, but she also wanted to be there. She closes her eyes and imagines he's there, paying her compliments and charming her with his wit.

There's a new sense of acceptance as she's sitting there. She begins to accept Klaus more for who he is. Or was. Her mother once told her "You were always too forgiving Caroline." She was always able to look past the faults but she never thought she could with Klaus.

He had made one too many mistakes, hurt too many people she cared about, too many innocent souls and still felt no remorse. But that night at the dance she began to understand him. Why he did the things that he did. He was alone. That was his biggest fear. She finds it a little heartbreaking that that's how he died. He had spent years to ensure that he would never have to be alone but that's what he was in the end. He didn't have his hybrids, his mother, Rebekah, Elijah, Kol, Finn, Stefan, or someone who loved him. He was utterly alone. That's when she realizes that she, herself doesn't want to be alone anymore either. She just needs someone to be with her, someone who won't leave her, someone who will stay.

She had once said that he was incapable of real feelings. A part of her felt like she was lying to Tyler when she said that but a part of her also believes that his feelings for her were not genuine. She only thought of him as an annoying masochistic man with ulterior motives to all of his actions. At first she believed his persistence was only for his gain. She believed that he only wanted to be accepted and trusted by her mother, that he only wanted someone from the group on his side to break up their bond and she wasn't going to fall for it. The night of the 20's dance confused her. For a man who didn't care, why did it seem like he was saying goodbye to her? And then that day in the school she realized the truth. When he had grabbed her in the school hallway and told her with urgency to get indoors. What she saw in his eyes was honest concern. What she saw in his eyes and the urgency she heard in his voice, made her believe the authenticity of his affections.

She looks down at the drawing and sees the droplets of water in the center of the page. That's when she notices the rain. She folds it quickly and places it in her purse gently before getting up to continue her walk home. The further she gets the harder it rains. She could use her strength and run but she doesn't want to. She feels numb. Because she's come to the acceptance that she actually fell for Klaus Mikaelson, the big bad original hybrid yet she has also come to the acceptance that he is now gone. A pile of ashes in some coffin in the middle of nowhere. A ghost haunting his family, haunting her; never to be heard.

In the midst of her jumbled thoughts she arrived home. Her mom was on duty so she wouldn't be home till later. For that she was thankful. She wasn't quite ready for her reunion with her mom. She breathes in the familiar scent of her house as she opens the door and notices there's a hint of a different familiar scent there. Someone had been here recently. She can't quite place her finger on the scent so she brushes it off and assumes it's one of her mother's friends. She's exhausted from her earlier conversation with Stefan and exhausted from her long walk home.

Her bags hit her bedroom floor with a loud thump. She sighs and sits on the chair in front of her mirror. As she is putting her head down she notices what's out of place. Before she closes her eyes she sees a flash of it on her nightstand. Stumbling as she walks to the side of her bed, she holds back her tears. She reaches down and picks up the long black box and opens it. The bracelet she had thrown to the ground in his art room lies flat in the box. The diamonds flash before her eyes and she grabs the paper that's attached to the box.

In familiar, neat black print, her name is written on the front of the paper. She slowly opens the letter and catches her breath as she whispers shakily. "Klaus."

**A/n: The end. :) Seriously guys. This last part was going to be the death of me. I knew what I wanted to happen. I just couldn't get the right words. Nothing seemed to fit. I'm still not sure how I feel about this one. I know that I'm more proud of my first two chapters than I am of this one though. I've never been good with dialogue. I probably just wasn't in the right writing mood. But I wanted to get this out to you guys since it's been forever since my last update. **

**I'm may or may not do a sequel. If I don't though I hope you enjoyed it. Please review. :) I really do love any kind of feedback. Just type in the box below and tell me what you thought!**

**And don't forget to follow me on tumblr! Sweettemptation92 :)**


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